“. . . although they believe themselves to be conservatives and usually employ the rhetoric of conservatism, [pseudo-conservatives] show signs of a serious and restless dissatisfaction with American life, traditions, and institutions. . . . Their political reactions...
health care reform
Are “Conservatives” Conservative?
Scenes from a Health Reform Phone Bank
The setting: The living room of a volunteer’s apartment in Manhattan. The action: A night of phoning voters, mostly Obama supporters, in Florida, Indiana, and Virginia. Many wrong or disconnected numbers, or no one home (so we leave messages). “Hello, my name is —....
“No Way” Rockefeller Will Support Baucus Plan
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) announced this afternoon that “there is no way” he could support the health care reform plan drafted by Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and his “(Bipartisan) Gang of Six” to be presented tomorrow, Weds. Sept. 16. Senator...
Robert Reich on the Public Option
And How to Make It Happen
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBi8A_HutII “Unless you make a helluva racket” the status quo is going to win this thing. Former labor secretary Robert Reich explains the basic idea of the public option and urges everyone to pitch in to make it happen—Yes We...
Senator Kennedy’s Letter to President Obama
Below is the text of the letter from Senator Edward M. Kennedy referenced by the President in tonight’s address to a Joint Session of Congress. May 12, 2009 Dear Mr. President, I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated...
Warming Up for Obama
Senators: Support Public Option, Kennedy’s HELP Committee Plan Tonight President Obama gives a rather important speech to a joint session of Congress. To say we wish him well would be an understatement. We spent most of the day warming up his audience by faxing and...
Does Believing in Social Contract Make Us Socialists? Then So Be It.
Learning What We’re Up Against, and How to Carry On If we’re learning anything from the messy struggles for health care reform and the passage of the stimulus bill back in February (how long ago that feels!)—and it’s far from clear whether anyone is learning...
Obama, Keep Public Option
“The public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of healthcare reform. This is just one sliver of it . . .” —President Obama in Grand Junction, Colo., Aug. 15, 2009 An Open Letter to President Obama Dear President Obama: I campaigned for...
Reform Healthcare Now with a Public Option: An Open Letter to the Senate Finance Committee
The following letter has been faxed and mailed to every Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee, beginning with Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the committee chairman. See below the fold for a list of committee members’ phone and fax numbers. “I mean, people...